Tuesday, April 23, 2024
4/23/2024
Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in spite of diligent efforts in increasing prevention through health system interventions. Prevention for colorectal cancer encompasses both early detection and treatment when pre-cancerous growths can be removed before they turn to cancer. However, the benefits of prevention are only accomplished when there is coordinated effort across systems and interventions focused on all levels (system, provider, patient and referral); this would ensure not only periodic screening but the completion of timely diagnostic follow-up services. Illinois (IL) is in the last quartile for CRC screening across the Nation and in the highest quartile for CRC related mortality. Within IL, CRC screening is lower than State average in the most populous tri-county urban region (Cook, DuPage and Will County) and in the rural parts of our State. Particularly, the Southern part of Illinois is in the Hotspot region where CRC death rates have increased significantly. Populations least likely to be screened (Hispanic, Asian in urban and White population in rural) and those that have the highest mortality (Black) are in these regions. It is imperative to target systems serving this vulnerable community. University of Chicago Medicine (UCM) was the first recipient of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) for IL in 2015. Our program conducted intensive pre-implementation, tailored evidence-based interventions and evolved over the course of 5 years to extend partnership with rural local health departments to tackle the high burden of CRC. UCM will continue to address the high disparity in CRC across different race/ethnic populations and rural parts (hotspot locations), we propose to launch the Illinois Colorectal Cancer Alliance to Reduce mortality and Enhance Screening (IL-CARES) that will build on lessons learned and utilize tools and solutions from our CRCCP program to extend our impact into tri-county urban region and Southern IL. Our aim is to implement a multi-level intervention program in partnership with health systems to strengthen capacity, tailor interventions, sustain CRC screening status and complete timely diagnostic follow-up tests to increase CRC screening rates in the short term and reduce CRC incidence and mortality among the populations reached by our proposed program. We will implement our program in three phases: pre-implementation focused on readiness assessments; implementation phase where interventions are aligned with system readiness; and, post-implementation phase focused on sustainment along with ongoing monitoring and evaluation using both process and outcome measures.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
